Most of us have had a few photographs ruined by someone’s hand shaking at just the wrong moment – and wished that we could ‘go back in time’ to take the shot again.
But as long as you still have the blurred file, hope might be at hand.
Adobe – makers of Photoshop – unveiled a prototype ‘filter’ that calculates the speed at which an inept snapper’s hands were wobbling, then digitally ‘removes’ the shake from a photograph, restoring it to pristine sharpness.
Before… and after? Adobe demonstrated a photoshop filter that removes blur after a shot, so shaky-handed photographers can ‘go back in time’. The algorithm calculates how fast your hands were moving, then compensates for the blur
The effect is astonishing – and drew loud cheers from a trade show audience last week.
The prototype filter was demonstrated at the Adobe trade show Max in Los Angeles this year, and drew cheers from the audience. The footage was captured by an audience member.
Adobe declined to say which version, if any, of its popular Photoshop software the filter might appear in.
‘Adobe Max Sneaks are an opportunity to showcase some of the projects we’re working on,’ an Adobe spokesperson told Mail Online, ‘Some may or may not make it into future versions of our products.’
The audience of imaging professionals at Adobe’s Max Sneak demonstration burst into applause as the demonstrator ‘sharpened up’ a blurred image instantly at the touch of a button, removing camera shake
The audience of imaging professionals burst into applause at part of the demo, where an image of an Adobe staffer from the previous year’s MAX was ‘sharpened up’ at the touch of a button.
The process is near-instant, particularly with small image files. The software analyses blurred files for what Adobe terms a ‘blur kernel’ – a mathematical recreation of the motion that caused the image to be blurred.
Clicking ‘Restore Sharp Image’ then restores the theoretical ‘original’ the photographer WOULD have taken.
Writers on photo sites seemed enthused – most thought that the filter would be a highly saleable addition to PhotoShop.
Adobe point out during the presentation that out-there technologies demonstrated at Max Sneaks – such as last year’s demo of a filter that automatically removed unwanted objects – DO make it into finished software.
By Rob Waugh